WikiSpaces has a number of shortcuts for changing different sections – cosmetic changes if you like. The coding is also different which made my initial foray into WikiEducator a puzzle as the formatting I was used to using didn’t work.

My Classroom Wiki Portal

My WikiEducator homepage

WikiEducator has a different purpose overall I think. As already mentioned there are differences in the coding but it has a very neat function where you can edit parts of pages rather than having to edit the whole page at once.

WikiSpaces allows you to embed objects (such as forms and pages) but I’ve yet to find that feature in WikiEducator. (And since they’re embedded they change as you continue to edit them.)

Embedded Google docs

I’m beginning to use WikiSpaces as part of my classroom curriculum delivery mechanism because it allows me to do the embedding (as mentioned above).

Part of Weekly Plan

WikiEducator allows me to do other types of formatting too such as the box shown here.

Other formatting available

I’m at the start of a 10-day wikieducator workshop – by the end I may well change how I use the two wikis. Time will tell.

This was a workshop presented by Perry Rush from Island Bay School at an NZEI Wellington District Council “Staff Wellbeing” Seminar.

Just some rough notes until i can get some urls from perry …

He quoted Judith Aitkin?

Chn are compelled to be at school – it is therefore our responsibility to make sure they take something wonderful and worthwhile out of their 10+ years invested in the school system

Educational research from Graham Nuttal and ? EDwards (reminded me a bit of some of the things that David Warlick talked about) – we do what we do because that’s how we were taught / we do what we do because we learned from educators who did it that way because they learned it from educators who did it that way …

Modelling from the top – example of sharing his own appraisal with the staff – using an anonymous survey forum to get feedback; then sharing the results with the staff; sharing his goals concerning the areas he needed to improve in with them – and lastly sharing with them what he has done to meet those goals

the reggio emilia approach to learning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach

http://zerosei.comune.re.it/inter/

http://www.brainy-child.com/article/reggioemilia.html

Oxford Dictionary definition of teachers : dispensers of facts and knowledge

I note that dictionary.com says
a person who teaches or instructs, esp. as a profession; instructor.

and my Collins dictionary say A person whose occupation is teaching

Teachers, however, are not merely dispensers of fact and knowledge!

We need to:

• pose provocative questions

• show the teacher as a learner

There is powerful teaching done through asking questions (instead of telling facts) and even more powerful teaching done by being quiet and letting the children figure things out.

Think outside the box

Dream the dream you are passionate about

Our kids deserve the absolute best

Maximum passion – maximum energy